Can I catch it?

No you can’t. No one knows what makes some people very sensitive to allergens and others completely happy with them. More and more children are becoming allergic to foods like milk, wheat, soy, peanuts, shellfish and egg whites, and there are big arguments over why.

Unfortunately, allergies can’t be cured either, although medicines can make things much better. Anti-histamines get rid of the sneezing and swelling. Sometimes people grow out of their allergies, but this may not happen till you are 30 or 40.

Doctors can do a skin test to check if you’re really allergic to something. This means injecting a tiny amount of the allergen (like pollen, dust or animal fur) under your skin. If you’re allergic, you get an itchy swelling just there. However, they don’t always work – and sometimes the results say you’re allergic to lots more things than you really are.

What is an allergy?          What can I do about it?